FAMILY FILES DISCRIMINATION SUIT AGAINST MCDONALD'S.Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer A 7-year-old handicapped girl filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the McDonald's restaurant in Castaic, claiming her civil rights were violated when employees banned her from the playground because of shoes worn to ensure her safety. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Michelle Silva and her mother, Virginia Silva, also claims that McDonald's discriminates against children with disabilities because its playground isn't equipped for handicapped youngsters. McDonald's referred calls to Porter Novelli Porter Novelli International is a leading, global PR and lobbying firm. It is part of the Omnicom Group of advertising and marketing companies, the world's largest advertising conglomerate. The following article on Porter Novelli was obtained from "Sourcewatch. , its Westwood-based public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most firm. They had no comment on the suit. The Silvas' suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , said the girl and her mother went to the restaurant in September 1998, and that Michelle tried to utilize McDonald's playground. The youngster was born with spina bifida - a condition in which her spinal column spinal column, bony column forming the main structural support of the skeleton of humans and other vertebrates, also known as the vertebral column or backbone. It consists of segments known as vertebrae linked by intervertebral disks and held together by ligaments. is not completely closed - so she must wear plastic braces and special shoes to help her walk and maintain her balance, the suit said. McDonald's employees prohibited her from using the playground, citing company policy that children must remove their shoes in the play area, the suit said. Virginia Silva complained in vain to McDonald's personnel, the suit said, and Michelle was humiliated hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. in front of her peers and other customers. The lawsuit was filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. civil-rights law, enacted 1990, that forbids discrimination of various sorts against persons with physical or mental handicaps. and seeks to require the restaurant chain to make ``reasonable modifications'' to its no-shoes policy and train employees to accommodate children with disabilities. The Silvas are represented by the Western Center for Disability Rights, a nonprofit law firm at Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit school in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Like Loyola University Chicago School of Law and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law (separate and unaffiliated in Los Angeles. Eve Hill, the center's executive director, stated that when people are hurt by businesses that ignore their responsibilities, those businesses must be prepared for legal action. ``We are hopeful that McDonald's will recognize the need to accommodate kids with disabilities and that we can negotiate a fair resolution,'' she said. |
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